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Chapter1
Luke Trainer stuffed his hands in the pockets of his uniform pants as he walked down the main street of his hometown Ryker Falls.
Fall was here with a vengeance, and the air had a bite to it. That and the scent of pumpkin spice that meant every young woman in town pulled on those furry head bands and boots that looked like they could do a five-day trek through the mountains in thick snow.
“Hey, Miss Marla.”
“Hello, Luke. I’m just doing a quick recce on the competition, but I think we have the best window display this year.”
“My money’s on you.” The woman, her sister, and her niece owned the local tea shop. A tea shop wasn’t something you expected to find in a small town like this, but it worked. Plus, it had the best lemon and blueberry scones around.
“You’re such a sweetie.” She patted his cheek. Her pumpkin-colored pants suit and boots in green leather shouldn’t have worked, but always did on a Robbins sister.
Halloween brought out the true crazy in this town. Shop owners competed for the best window displays, and the locals for the home and yard that looked the best. Kids ramped up that excitement by dashing about the place shrieking at the displays and entering shops in the hopes that candy was already on offer.
“Well, hell, if it isn’t the last man standing,” a big man holding two spray cans said. He had one foot on a ladder, bracing it for his girl who was seated above. Standing beside him was a pony wrapped in a plaid blanket. In any other town, that might appear odd.
“Hey, Monica.” Luke scratched her behind a long ear. “Where’s your duck?”
“M.D. is not big on being social.” Nash Winter sprayed an arc of pumpkin color along the base of the glass. The pony had arrived on Nash’s doorstep with a duck and never left.
“Can’t say as I blame him. And what was that last-man-standing comment about?”
“You’re single.”
“Hi, Luke,” the girl sitting on top of the ladder said.
“And now you two are loved up, you’re suddenly a little ray of sunshine aren’t you, bud?”
Nash gave him a wide smile that reached all corners of his face. “It was always in me.”
“Why are you doing that?” Both were decorating Mrs. L’s window. Luna was perched on the ladder, and Nash was below. “Don’t tell me, let me guess.” Luke raised a hand as Luna opened her mouth. “She’s too mean to pay someone to decorate it, and Rory was busy?”
“On the money—or not, as it turns out,” Luna said. She had a spray can in one hand and a lot of orange paint on her fingers.
She’d come to Ryker to visit a friend and fallen for the grumpiest asshole here. The man at her feet. She had honey-blonde hair and a pretty face and was a social media influencer who ran a company worth a considerable sum of money. Luke liked her, even though he didn’t understand what she did.
“Do either of you actually know what you’re doing?”
“No,” they both said. “But you get what you pay for, which in this case is nothing,” Nash said.
“Fair to say she’s not winning the comp then.”
“I heard that, Luke Trainer, and I’m winning this year. The prize is a month’s supply of those chocolate pain thingies from Albert and two dinners at A.S. Plus, Ted’s throwing in a night for two at the lodge.”
“Pain au chocolat,” Luke corrected her at the same time as Nash. “Who are you taking for the sleepover?”
Mrs. L’s smile was sneaky. “A lady never kisses and tells.” She gave her window a look, nodded, then headed back inside.
“I think she’s got her sights on you,” Nash said. “Being the last man standing and all.”
“Fuck off, there are plenty of single guys in town.”
“But none are the assistant chief of the Ryker Falls Fire Department and hot,” Luna said.
“You can’t call him hot with me standing here!” Nash looked outraged.
“Where is that rule written?” Luna asked.
